I believe that the Leadership for Accountability course was difficult for me because my experience in first grade for 18 years did not require much data desegregation. The entire course involved the development of an action plan for the campus of your choice. Choosing a campus was easy, but my experience with data desegregation was mostly with Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) tests and simple teacher observations and checklists in the classroom. With that being said, I had some self-learning to perform first, before I could do my assignments for the course. The course was informative as I gained a plethora of acronyms while learning about NCLB, AYP, and using AEIS reports to perform a data-driven comprehensive needs assessment on our school. My experience analyzing reports and developing an action plan made me realize my short-comings with professional development needs. To me, it is much easier being on the other side and obtaining the training. I realized how much guess-work and planning is involved; preparing for the ‘just in case’ and the ‘what ifs’ happenings. I was able to see how challenging and important a principal’s role is in promoting the school’s vision and setting a positive school culture. As a future technology leader, I will be a part of that vision and help with the school improvement initiatives. Developing a campus improvement plan involves many stakeholders’ support and commitment. During the course, we had to interview our principal and a teacher on their views of the site-base decision making committee. I discovered quite a bit about our committee and understood why such a committee is created. Throughout the online program, the advantages of reflective thinking, collaborations through discussion boards, and web conferences were blended and heavily promoted. Why are schools adopting this reflective thinking? As Joan Ferraro states, “By gaining a better understanding of their own individual teaching styles through reflective practice, teachers can improve their effectiveness in the classroom.” (Ferraro, 2000) This effectiveness will then transfer into school improvement or better yet, student achievement. Educational Technology Leadership program here at Lamar University has made me see our school system from a different perspective. I know now how much goes into running a school. Creating and building a shared leadership in a school is important and making use of professional learning communities can help reach the goal of student achievement.
Ferraro, J. (2000). Reflective Practice and Professional Development. ERIC: Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education,http://searcheric.org/digests/ed449120.html Course Embedded Assignments
EDLD 5333 - Leadership for Accountability
Reflection
I believe that the Leadership for Accountability course was difficult for me because my experience in first grade for 18 years did not require much data desegregation. The entire course involved the development of an action plan for the campus of your choice. Choosing a campus was easy, but my experience with data desegregation was mostly with Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) tests and simple teacher observations and checklists in the classroom. With that being said, I had some self-learning to perform first, before I could do my assignments for the course. The course was informative as I gained a plethora of acronyms while learning about NCLB, AYP, and using AEIS reports to perform a data-driven comprehensive needs assessment on our school. My experience analyzing reports and developing an action plan made me realize my short-comings with professional development needs. To me, it is much easier being on the other side and obtaining the training. I realized how much guess-work and planning is involved; preparing for the ‘just in case’ and the ‘what ifs’ happenings. I was able to see how challenging and important a principal’s role is in promoting the school’s vision and setting a positive school culture. As a future technology leader, I will be a part of that vision and help with the school improvement initiatives. Developing a campus improvement plan involves many stakeholders’ support and commitment. During the course, we had to interview our principal and a teacher on their views of the site-base decision making committee. I discovered quite a bit about our committee and understood why such a committee is created.
Throughout the online program, the advantages of reflective thinking, collaborations through discussion boards, and web conferences were blended and heavily promoted. Why are schools adopting this reflective thinking? As Joan Ferraro states, “By gaining a better understanding of their own individual teaching styles through reflective practice, teachers can improve their effectiveness in the classroom.” (Ferraro, 2000) This effectiveness will then transfer into school improvement or better yet, student achievement.
Educational Technology Leadership program here at Lamar University has made me see our school system from a different perspective. I know now how much goes into running a school. Creating and building a shared leadership in a school is important and making use of professional learning communities can help reach the goal of student achievement.
Ferraro, J. (2000). Reflective Practice and Professional Development. ERIC: Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education, http://searcheric.org/digests/ed449120.html
Course Embedded Assignments